Former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has confirmed a coalition involving former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, aimed at unseating President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

El-Rufai made the confirmation while speaking on Wednesday at the Arewa TechFest event in Katsina.

He said, “Yesterday at 8 PM, there was a very important meeting of the coalition we’re putting together to ensure that President Tinubu goes back to Lagos.”

POLITICS NIGERIA reported earlier that a high-stakes meeting on Tuesday culminated in the trio’s adoption of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) as the official platform for the emerging opposition coalition. The coalition’s strategy reportedly includes a broad-based alliance aimed at consolidating support across geopolitical zones and mobilizing civil society groups, technocrats, and disgruntled political blocs.

“They have adopted the African Democratic Party as the coalition party, all of them (Atiku, Obi, El-Rufai) are working together. They came to the conclusion last night up till the early hours of this morning,” a source revealed.

El-Rufai added, “Though we will still keep Bosun Tijani, we will still keep the minister because he is doing good work.”

The alliance marks a mending of political fences between the former rivals, whose division before the 2023 presidential election was widely viewed as a major contributor to President Tinubu’s victory. Collectively, Atiku and Obi secured significantly more votes than Tinubu’s 8.7 million, indicating that a united opposition could present a formidable challenge in the 2027 race.

The development coincides with a recent remark by Chairman of ADC’s Board of Trustees, BoT, Mani Ahmed who said the ADC will be the party for the coalition.

“I can categorically inform you that the African Democratic Congress is the coalition party in Nigeria. What remains is merely dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s,” he said at a press conference.